Friday, June 29, 2007

8/25/08 note: there has a significant amount of minor tweaking to this pattern (stitch counts, mostly) in response to discerning knitters' eyes. The pattern as posted now has been updated and should be error-free.

3/29/08 note: this pattern is also available as a PDF download from Ravelry. Click here to download it if you'd rather have it in that format!

I've had a few requests to share the pattern I unvented for this baby sweater. It is, as I said, heavily inspired by this Drops pattern, but worked top-down without the picot collar and with different eyelet motifs. I can't say that it really counts as an original pattern, but since the Drops pattern is also free, I feel I can safely offer my adaption.

Note: eyelet/lace patterns are from Barbara Walker's First and Second Treasuries of Knitting Patterns.

Note #2: there was an error in the pattern as originally posted: rows 25 and 43 of the yoke were duplicated. The duplication has been corrected on the pattern below.

Note #3: there was another error which has been corrected below: row 46 now reads "increase 24 stitches" instead of "increase 9 stitches."

Work sleeves:Put 51 arm stitches on a needle. Work in eyelet pattern as established above for sweater body, but omitting the four button band stitches on either end, centering pattern between extra stitches (there will be two extra stitches on each end at the beginning of the arm). After first pattern repeat, decrease by one stitch at each end every sixth row (in the plain knit row) until there are 39 st. left on needles; continue in eyelet until you have worked four pattern repeats. Work eight rows of garter stitch and bind off.

Jen, that is an incredibly beautiful sweater! Of course, since imitation/sincere flattery/yaddayadda, I can't wait to try it. I saw the link to this over at knittersreview.com, and I'm so glad I clciked.

I'm a relatively new knitter, though, so I have a couple of questions if-you'd-be-so-kind:

Thanks for your careful reading, Pyewacket! -- I have deleted the duplicated row 43. Use the pattern as it is now posted. As for your other questions:

1. Whether odd or even-numbered rows are knit or purl rows in stockinette varies depending on the pattern. In the case of this pattern, once you begin knitting, it becomes clear pretty quickly that even-numbered rows are RS rows.

2. Yes, 10 garter ridges are 20 rows. I just found it easier to count those than to keep all the row counts in my head. Keep in mind that the buttonholes will look evenly spaced even if they are not exactly 20 rows apart all the time -- some of the buttonholes on my sweater are off by half a row or a whole row because I forgot to do the buttonhole at the right time, and they still look fine.

3. answered above

4. Baby Ull is a fingering-weight superwash wool. You'd be fine substituting any other washable fibers that are labeled "fingering" or "sock yarn," or perhaps even "sport," as long as the gauge is about the same. If you go with a cotton yarn instead of a wool or acrylic, though, it will make the sweater quite a bit heavier and it may not drape as well. Since this is a baby sweater, size is not as important as it is for adult sweaters, as the baby is growing all the time. So if you find a nice cheaper wool or acrylic yarn that is a little fatter, just go up a needle size or two, and your sweater will be a little bigger!

Jen, thank you so much for both answering my Qs and responding so quickly. With the school year beginning, I didn't dare hope a teacher would have time to blog!

I can't wait to try this great pattern and am already hearing the call of the yarn shop. (When DOESN'T it call?) This sweater will be a great change from the 2 adult sweaters I just finished, where I OD'd on miles of stockinette.

Thanks again for being so generous with both your time and creativity.

Hmmm, Renee -- it can be done, it just takes some fiddling around with the numbers to make all the eyelet patterns fit in. To make a cardigan about 15% smaller (so 3 months or even younger), you could make the following adjustments:

When dividing for the sleeves, divide as follows: k33, place 44 st. on a holder, k61, place 44 st. on a holder, k 33.

Work body stitches until piece measures 8.5", then work feather-and-fan pattern.

In the first row of the feather-and-fan pattern at the hem, increase by eight stitches spaced evenly across the row.

Decrease as written for the sleeves, but stop decreasing when 34 stitches remain. Finish sleeves as written.

Of course, my other word of advice is to just make the nine-month size -- babies grow so quickly that they can only fit into 3-month sweaters for a short time. Even if it's going to be summer when the baby is 9 months old, it can use a sweater indoors in air conditioning (not to mention the fact that it can also wear the 9-month size a little too big for a while).

Good luck, and let me know if the pattern changes work out, if you decide to make the smaller size!

Oh, just to clarify -- when I said to omit rows 10 and 11 for the smaller size cardigan, I then didn't take this fact into account for the other adjustments (so when I say "row 26," it will be your row 24).

I've started knitting your cardigan, and am confused with the number of yoke increases. At the end of row 26,you say there should be 155 sts, which is what I got. But by row 46, you say there should be 236 sts, when in reality, if you add up all the increases, I get only 220 sts. And by row 50, there's only 238 sts but the pattern says there should be 253 sts. I took it into a yarn shop and had 2 expert knitters look it over, and they were stumped as well. Could you clarify this? I am really excited to be knitting this and don't want to lose the momentum! Thanks...

Yeah, you're right. Clearly math gives me problems. I think that I must just have missed an increase of 16 stitches somewhere along the lines. How about this: in row 46, increase by 25 rather than 9 stitches. That will get all the numbers lined up without making a difference to the row numbers. Circular yokes and lace are both really forgiving so it won't make a difference to the way the yoke looks.

There appears to be a garter ridge before row 15-17 (the first set of eyelets) and after rows 43-45(the second set) that are not in the directions. Am I missing something? Love this top-down pattern. Thank you for sharing.

Nope, you're not missing anything. I simplified the yoke pattern a bit when I wrote it up because the instructions were just getting too long and crazy. If you feel like putting in an extra garter ridge before and after the rest of the yoke pattern, feel free!

I'm making the swetaer right now (LOVE the pattern), but I did run into one small error (no big deal).

Row 46 - after the final 25 stitch increase, notes that there will be 236 stitches. There are then 2 more increases - both 9 stitches (rows 48 & 50) for a total of 18 more stitches added to the 236 - which should equal 254 total. But your pattern notes that after row 50 there will be 253 stitches, and accounts for 253 when dividing for the sleeves.

I solved this by only increasing 8 on the last increase - rather than recalculating for the extra stitch in the dividing of the yoke and sleeves.

Everything has been updated that readers have pointed out. The * is appropriately placed in the feather and fan instructions, in order make this section symmetrical. The stitch counts are accurate now, I believe.

I have not. I have two thoughts: one is that I'm always inclined to knit a baby item big because babies grow so quickly. The other is that you could try size 2 needles -- even a slight difference in gauge can make a big difference in the size of the finished product.

I want to make this sweater, it is just so cute. Are all your pattern corrections in the pattern on the top or do I need to read all the posts to find corrections? I can't wait to get started, I plan to use 2 needle sizes up so it will fit a large 10 pound baby. Do you think that will be right?

All the corrections are up there now. If you're knitting for a newborn 10-lb baby I would say just knit the specified size -- it's definitely larger than newborn size as written. If you want to make it a little bigger, I'd keep the needle size but go for a yarn that will give you just a slight increase in the gauge -- maybe a sport weight yarn like Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino? Baby Ull is more like a fingering weight. A difference of a stitch or even a half a stitch an inch in gauge will make a big difference in the finished size.

I am in the process of making this beautiful cardigan and I am stuck at the pattern between row 28 and row 32.Do you have a chart for this pattern anywhere? What I am doing makes no sense because I come to a yarn over from the previous row and my instructions are to do another yarn over. Is that correct? I always worry that if I have missed a stitch in the prior row, it will throw off the whole pattern, unless I understand the pattern in chart form. Thank you so much.

No chart, unfortunately. You could try making one up for yourself -- it becomes pretty clear when you're mapping out a lace pattern exactly where the YO's should fall. I personally hate written-out lace instructions, but I don't really know how to chart lace for the computer. Good luck!

Gorgeous sweater. I am getting close to finishing it but had a question about the sleeves. The pattern says to decrease 1 stitch every 6th row for 3 pattern repeats - making a total of 6 stitches decreased. But the pattern also says you should have 39 stitches at the end of the pattern repeats but with 6 decreased stitches I have 45 stitches. Should I decrease 2 stitches every 6th row? Thanks for any help!

There are twelve rows in the eyelet pattern repeat on the sleeves. That means that you will have two decreases in each pattern repeat (a total of 4 decreased stitches because there's one at each end.) That makes for a total of 12 decreases in three pattern repeats.

There are twelve rows in the eyelet pattern repeat on the sleeves. That means that you will have two decreases in each pattern repeat (a total of 4 decreased stitches because there's one at each end.) That makes for a total of 12 decreases in three pattern repeats.

Hi, my name is marica and i am italian,i have a blog where i publish ( for free) babys pattern, i loved yours and i ask you a permission for translating and publish your pattern, with your name off course my blog :" la maglia di marica"thanks marica zamperetti

Beautiful pattern - thank you for posting it! I made it with Jade Sapphire Silk Cashmere yarn (1 skein) on size 2 needles and it came out nicely in about 3-4 month old size.http://adrienneclements405.blogspot.com/2010_09_01_archive.html here is my blog link with pictures, if anyone is interested. I am working on the sheep cardigan now - soooo cute!

Hi Jen, I'm knitting this lovely cardigan right now and I find there's a discrepancy between the written instructions and the pictures. In those there seems to be an extra purl row about two rows before and after the beginning and ending of the yoke's lace pattern. I decided to follow the pictures and for that I purled one right side row two rows before beginning the lace pattern at the original row 15. I finished the lace pattern and did the same, two rows after row 45. I having lots of fun knitting the cardigan, thank you for posting!

Hello I was wondering if you had any suggestions for modifying this sweater for a bigger size (12-15 months). I spent a long time picking out a sweater pattern for a child in my life only to find out it's the wrong size! Oy vey! If you could help me out it would be much appreciated.

Hi Jen. Thanks so much for the free pattern. It is gorgeous and will be knit for my first grandchild. Is the PDF download at the top of this blog page and/or on Ravelry updated with all the changes? I much prefer to work from a PDF on my iPad than from paper, so I have my fingers crossed☺!

Hi Jen. Thanks so much for the free pattern. It is gorgeous and will be knit for my first grandchild. Is the PDF download at the top of this blog page and/or on Ravelry updated with all the changes? I much prefer to work from a PDF on my iPad than from paper, so I have my fingers crossed☺!

I don't know -- the increases and decreases of the feather-and-fan pattern should balance each other out so the stitch count stays the same -- are you sure you didn't insert a few YO's in between sections of the written pattern by accident?